Tiger Woods had the Arnold Palmer Invitational and his eight wins there. Jack Nicklaus had an affinity for The Masters with his six victories. Gary Player has his 13 Investec South African Open titles. And Jean Hugo has the Vodacom Origins of Golf series.
With his 12 victories in total, Hugo is the undisputed master of the longest running pro-am series of tournaments on the Sunshine Tour.
His wins on this series alone account for over half of his career victories on the Sunshine Tour.
And at Oubaai Golf Estate on Friday, Hugo lined up victory number 13.
Hugo signed for a 64 to head the field on 16 under par overall heading into the weekend of this Vodacom Origins of Golf Final.
🎥 Jean Hugo made this birdie on the 18th to extend his lead at the halfway mark. #VOGFinal #GreatnessBeginsHere #SunshineTour pic.twitter.com/EJ7kHdvyrT
— Sunshine Tour (@Sunshine_Tour) November 15, 2024
He is three strokes clear of Dean Burmester and Sean Bradley. Burmester produced a bogey-free 64, and Bradley signed for a 67.
Oliver Bekker, who led the first round, kept himself in contention on 12 under par overall with a 70 on Friday.
And Daniel van Tonder, a two-time winner on the Sunshine Tour this year already, climbed to 10 under par with a 63.
The longevity of Hugo’s success on this Vodacom Origins of Golf series is put into perspective when you consider that his first win on the series in 2006 saw him beat Chris Williams, who is now campaigning on the senior circuit.
That’s a year before the first iPhone came out.
Ruan Conradie produced some impressive scoring of his own with a 63 that included a front nine of 29, lifting him to seven under par overall.
The Sunshine Ladies Tour professionals put in a strong performance on Friday, with three of the four who are participating this week making it through to the weekend.
Gabrielle Venter leads this charge in tied 15th place on seven under par following a second round of 65. Danielle du Toit signed for a 67 to come through 36 holes on six under par, while Cara Gorlei is at two under par after a 73.
SCORES:
128 - Jean Hugo 64 64
131 - Dean Burmester 67 64, Sean Bradley 64 67
132 - Oliver Bekker 62 70, Conner Mackenzie 67 65
134 - Daniel van Tonder 71 63, Samuel Simpson 68 66, Barend Botha 65 69
135 - Ricky Hendler 66 69
136 - Graham van der Merwe 69 67, Herman Loubser 69 67, Tyran Snyders 71 65, Yurav Premlall 68 68, Heinrich Bruiners 68 68
137 - Ethan Smith 69 68, Jacques Kruyswijk 70 67, Ruan Conradie 74 63, Stefan Wears-Taylor 72 65, MJ Viljoen 69 68, Gabrielle Venter 72 65, Stals Swart 66 71, Bryce Easton 71 66, Hennie O'Kennedy 67 70, Ockie Strydom 67 70, Louis de Jager 70 67
138 - Jovan Rebula 70 68, Jean-Paul Strydom 72 66, Fredrik From 68 70, Martin Vorster 70 68, Jacques Blaauw 74 64, Malcolm Mitchell 68 70, Danielle du Toit 71 67, Luke Brown 70 68, Matthew Spacey 66 72, Jason Roets 70 68, Keegan Mclachlan 68 70
139 - Jaco Prinsloo 69 70, Haydn Porteous 66 73, Alex Haindl 73 66, Kyle De Beer 71 68, Doug McGuigan 70 69, Jacob Oakley 68 71
140 - Estiaan Conradie 73 67, CJ du Plessis 71 69, Combrinck Smit 73 67, Branden Grace 70 70, Jack Hawksby 72 68, LB Boshoff 72 68, Stephen Ferreira 70 70, Craig Ross 70 70
141 - Keelan van Wyk 71 70, JJ Senekal 72 69, Luke Jerling 72 69, Brandon Pieters 71 70, Franklin Manchest 68 73, Rourke van der Spuy 74 67, Dylan Mostert 74 67, Callum Mowat 71 70, Dylan Naidoo 69 72
142 - Karabo Mokoena 70 72, Pierre Pellegrin 75 67, Deon Germishuys 71 71, Wynand Dingle 70 72, Trevor Mahoney 72 70, Cara Gorlei 69 73, Christopher Long 71 71
Missed the cut:
143 - Hayden Griffiths 75 68, Altin van der Merwe 73 70, Ivan Verster 73 70, Sentanio Minnie 74 69, Nick Cunningham 77 66, Peter Karmis 70 73, Christian Kriek 74 69, Rhys West 73 70, Jacques P de Villiers 72 71, Lyle Rowe 75 68
144 - Joe Long 73 71, Jake Roos 72 72
145 - Danie Van Niekerk 77 68, Keagan Thomas 71 74, Jordan Duminy 75 70, James Pennington 70 75, Pieter Moolman 77 68, Simon du Plooy 74 71, Adam Breen 72 73
146 - David Amm 76 70, Ruan Groenewald 73 73, Keenan Davidse 75 71, Nikhil Rama 71 75, Therion Nel 74 72, Kyle McClatchie 74 72, Kyle Barker 78 68, Martin Rohwer 77 69, Ruan Korb 68 78, Quintin Wilsnach 70 76, Stuart Krog 74 72, Hennie Otto 72 74, Sean Cronje 73 73, Christiaan Basson 74 72
147 - Toto Thimba Jnr 74 73, Jaco Van Zyl 75 72, Regan Steyn 80 67, Andre De Decker 73 74, Francois van Staden 72 75, Brandon Meads 71 76, Ruan de Smidt 73 74, Merrick Bremner 70 77, Thabiso Ngcobo 73 74
148 - Irvin Mazibuko 77 71, Carlo Heunis 75 73, Kirby Coe-Kirkham 74 74, James Mack 78 70
149 - Christiaan Burke 76 73, Jake Redman 74 75, Njoroge Kibugu 75 74, Kayle Wykes 72 77, Werner Deyzel 73 76, Robson Chinhoi 73 76, Gerhard Pepler 76 73, Bradford Vaughan 77 72
150 - Steven Le Roux 73 77, Dylan O'Leary 73 77, Tristin Galant 79 71, Gary Kemp 77 73, Pride Sembo 73 77, Dayne Moore 80 70
151 - Richard Kruger 75 76
152 - Vaughn van Deventer 72 80, Leon Vorster 80 72, Ace Andile Adam 74 78
153 - Jacquin Hess 76 77
154 - Umar Davids 81 73, Otto Van Buynder 80 74, Albert Venter 81 73
155 - Lyle Pedro 83 72, Brandon Gildenhuys 79 76, Travis Ladner 78 77
159 - Shaahid Mahmed 84 75
164 - Kim de Klerk 82 82
166 - Terence Boardman 87 79
RTD - Llewellyn Leibrandt 96 RTD